14. Claire
Chapter fourteen
Claire
I haven’t left the apartment for a week because the thought of facing Moose makes me want to peel my skin off. He followed me on his day off, drugged my drink, and coerced Austin into handcuffing me to his bed so that my bodyguard could come prove why I need him. That’s all embarrassing of its own right, but then add to that the fact that I literally begged him to fuck me, and I could die. I might, the next time I see him.
It was the week before spring break, so classes were light as a feather. I didn’t miss anything I couldn’t take care of by logging into the student system and doing, so it has been easy to avoid him.
Of course, it doesn’t last. Rhea calls me out to the living room without any explanation, and when I enter, she presses a glass of wine into my hands. No sooner does she do that, I notice Moose standing in the corner next to the barstool with irritation written on his face. He doesn’t look at me, which I expect to be grateful for, but somehow that feels like just another rejection.
“Rhea…” I sigh, turning to go back to the comfort of my room.
In the last week, I’ve torn apart everything in my room, and I still haven’t found any sort of camera. Whether Remy and Moose really are spying on me, I can’t say, but I’m assuming they were telling the truth, so I’ve been too mortified to do anything other than read and sleep. I’ve even started changing in the bathroom, just in case their prying eyes are looking for something that neither of them has the courage to come get.
“Just, sit.” She pushes me toward the couch, and the wine in the glass nearly sloshes over the side as I fall onto it .
“You haven’t been yourself lately, Claire, and it scares me. I know what you went through last year.” She raises a hand, as if I was going to argue the point. Next to me on the couch, Eli looks confused. He’s also on my shit list, being that he let Moose intervene on my night out. As big as he is, he always balks to Moose… like a little bitch. “But that’s not what I’m talking about. I mean, since we got back home, back to school, you haven’t been acting right. And it kills me to see you suffer like that.” She shakes her head sadly. “I think it’s this place that’s doing that to you. This apartment, this campus, college.”
“Just… waiting for my life to begin.” I muster a smile.
“Exactly!” Rhea points a finger. “That’s exactly my point! You’re not living right now, you’re… floating.”
Floating feels good sometimes. Other times, your muscles ache with the need to move. I don’t bother telling her any of that, because she won’t bother listening. I also don’t tell her any of that because I’m tired of floating too.
“So, I think we need to get you out of the water… drag you onto land.”
I narrow my eyes on her, not sure where she’s going with this metaphor. “I like the water.”
“I don’t like watching you tread it.” She laughs. “Which is why we’re going to party on shore… or maybe on a boat, we’ll see what happens.”
“Rhea,” I sigh. Sometimes she’s exhausting. “What are you talking about?”
“Spring break! We’re going to spend it in Miami. I think the sun is going to do you a world of good, because you’ve been hiding away for months. You’re so pale that the tan lines you’ve had since our first summer together are gone.”
“How do you even know that?” I ask, narrowing my eyes on her.
“Maybe I told her.” Moose quips. “Or maybe you don’t remember me taking a pic for your benefactor when you were begging for me to fuck you the other night? ”
The scarlet that crawls along my cheeks has to rival the wine in my glass… wine which I promptly take a big gulp from. “Moose.” Rhea chides. “Not helping.”
I don’t turn to see how he reacts to that, but I’m sure he doesn’t care. His job isn’t to help her make me feel better. “Does everyone know about that?” I mutter, wondering if I can drown myself in the two inches of wine still left in my glass. It definitely won’t do, so I grab the bottle from the coffee table and press it to my lips instead.
“Not everyone.” Moose reasons. “I haven’t told Boudreaux just yet.”
“Because he’d fire you both.” Rhea snaps. “You heard him as clearly as I did. Claire is an adult. She can sleep with whoever she wants to. You had no right to intervene… either of you.” Her eyes sweep to Eli, who looks to the floor in a way that lets me know she thoroughly punished him for his part in my celibacy that night.
“My job is to protect her body , not her fragile feelings.” Moose laughs, making me snap around to face him.
“Fuck you.” I grind out the words, my hatred for him rising like a tide.
“I know you want to, princess.” He winks, undisturbed by the rage flooding me.
“Your job is to keep anything bad from happening.” Rhea says, sounding almost exasperated. “Orgasms aren’t bad, okay?”
Moose snorts, and I find myself wondering how much Rhea had to drink before she called this meeting. “She can give herself as many as she wants. I think both Boudreaux and I quite enjoy when she does.”
“If you really have access to that, you’d better pretend you don’t, or I promise Boudreaux will slit your pretty tattooed throat, okay?” Rhea smiles sweetly at him, catching Moose off guard for just a moment. “Now, we are going on vacation. I don’t care what any of you say. I’ve rented us a house, so no weird hotel room situation.”
“And you’ve cleared this?” Eli asks, glancing over me to Moose and then back to Rhea. “With your brother?”
“My brother isn’t my keeper.” She laughs. “And neither are you. We tolerate your presence, but don’t misunderstand… you’re not going to be around forever. And I can have you replaced any time I want.”
Moose only snorts, clearly not believing her, but Eli straightens under the threat. No surprise he loves his job. He gets paid a pretty penny to fuck a beautiful woman who is, arguably, out of his league. He’s one of a rare few man who actually gets to enjoy her company over and over again, but I know that Rhea hasn’t caught feelings for him. She could have him replaced in less than twenty-four hours, and men would probably line up for the position.
“Also, yes. I told him we were going to Miami.”
“The human trafficking capital of the south,” I say, despite the fact that it’s not the worst city possible. I’m being petulant simply because my best friend is insistent upon making me pretend that I’m just a college senior who wants to drink and party without thinking about reality.
“We’ll be fine.” Rhea assures me. “We have the guys, and besides, it’s not like lightning strikes the same place twice.”
I didn’t mention it because I was worried, although I guess she would see it that way. Miami is a hub, making travel to other places so much easier. Like Atlanta, they both connect to several other destinations. If you take a wrong turn, you could end up in a totally different country mere hours later.
It’s actually kind of perfect.
I can feel the weight of Moose’s eyes on me as he speaks. “Lightning doesn’t strike the same place twice…” he almost sounds like he’s agreeing with Rhea, until he continues. “Unless you’re a lightning rod.”